.

More about me ...

Monday, 22 November 2010

Bringing YSL back to YSL, - Stefano Pilati said "It was very difficult: Do I really do Yves Saint Laurent this season, or do I not? ... So I decided that the clothes should play with the codes of the house, but be more accessible. I usual do a lot of embellishment, so this time I took it all off".

Stefano Pilati pared down the YSL-isms to their purest form, with the only decoration coming from scrolled gold cuffs and disc earrings, or a pair of gold, fin-heeled wedge sandals. The romantic seventies ruffles also turned up on two gorgeous chiffon dresses, one orange, one jade ...

"There are many great artists, but few are truly exceptional in the way that Yves Saint Laurent was. I had the enormous privilege of wearing his designs and the great honour of modeling for him. Yves Saint Laurent revolutionized fashion. He created and inspired, vivid universe that overturned conventions and conformity. With Yves Saint Laurent, art became fashion- - and fashion an art. Women's beauty, freedom, and strength were the sources of his vision of style and appeal, shaped by a demanding, passionate approach to his work. The name Yves Saint Laurent will be associated with haute couture forever, in France and abroad, because he was a creative mentor to everyone, everywhere. This magnificent retrospective in the wonderful setting in the Petit Palais is an elegant tribute to Yves Saint Laurent, revealing the heart and soul of his designs."

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

The Exhibition was made possible through the patronnage of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

Tuesday, 16 November 2010

Peter Copping evoked the ultra-feminine mood of the house, using classic haute couture fabrications including diaphanous lace and chiffon, gazar, and duchesses satin in shimmering prints and a palette of soft blues, petal pinks, and jonquil yellows that recalled Monet's water-lily paintings.

Nina Ricci showcases inspirations of the house association's: Christian Bérard, who created many images for the Ricci perfumes; Marc Lalique, who designed L'air du Temps bottle in 1951; and Jamin Janet, a sculptor who conjured up the decor of Ricci's couture house. These influences translated into a perfectly lovely mix of the practical and the giddily, hopelessy impractical and irresistible for a woman who mixes day and evening effects with abandon.

A trench coat was shrugged over a short tutu froth of ivory chiffoninset with lace for the opening look; spirals of silk gauze whirled around the body and fronds of ostrich fluttered beneath layers of smokey satin organza; sequin flowers bloomed on shrunken twinset ...

An ivory crepe shirtwaist and a pinafore wrapper of soft pink showed that Peter Copping can also do unemebellished feminity well and stay true to his mantra of the season, to create something "very up and feel good."